Caution until Warmth Due Apart
by Crona4
Summary: Sequel to Melt the Ice Around her Heart. Queen Elsa has given birth and the entire land of Arendelle is rejoicing. Despite the joy, far away, a plan is brewing with two mischievous revenge seekers who will stop at nothing to exact their justice. They will soon learn, though, that they have something in common with their enemy... Never underestimate the power of family.
1. Chapter 1

The whole kingdom of Arendelle had been waiting for this day. It was a frosty day with a blizzard raging throughout the entire land, but it was still joyous. It was the midst of fall, but the cause of the chilling weather was known to everyone. The queen was in pain. This was no ordinary day. This was the day that the royal heir was to be born.

Of course everyone had been preparing for the storm, and had stocked up on blankets and firewood, waiting for the announcement of the child. Not one person in the kingdom was upset or distressed, for the queen herself had ordered guards to provide warmth to those too poor to obtain the heat themselves.

Inside the castle, the screams were icy and painful. There hadn't been enough time to rush the queen to the hospital, so the job had been given to the servants to make sure she was as comfortable as possible while doctors arrived. The interior of the castle was frozen over, and the queen was trying to thaw it as much as she could to make it comfortable for her subjects, but it was difficult in the middle of birth.

Princess Anna exhaled on her mitts, rubbing them together in an attempt to warm them while also battling the urge to explode into her sister's room and comfort her. The doctors had made it perfectly clear, though. Only the queen, the king, a couple of servants, and the doctors themselves were allowed in the room.

Almost four years ago, Queen Elsa of Arendelle had fallen sick with a non-contagious plague meant only for her. The plague had been cast on her by Commander Lion, leader of the Predators. The Predators were originally an organization to celebrate magic, but the true purpose was twisted by Commander Lion and commoners were mind controlled and cursed.

Along the way of saving Elsa's life, many allies and many enemies were encountered. In the end, the protagonists won, but now they are to face a new challenge with Queen Elsa and King Diablo's offspring.

"Mama? Is my new cousin here yet?"

Anna glanced over to see her three year old son, Sven, looking at her with wide eyes. He was not too fond of his aunt's screams. After the valiant, determined reindeer passed of old age around three and a half years ago, Princess Anna and Prince Kristoff had felt it only necessary to name their son Sven. Sven had been one of the quietest babies they'd seen, but he loved his family a lot, and was turning out to be a real sweetheart. Anna smiled down at him as he climbed onto her lap. "No honey, but almost."

As Sven crawled onto his father's lap to bug him, Anna caught sight of Asche leaning against the wall and sighing. "What's wrong?" His mother, Tigress, inquired.

Asche just shook his head a little bit and smirked. "Diablo? As a father? That's scary, don't you think?" he teased, making his mother smile to herself.

Asche and Tigress were something of a dark duo. Tigress had been a part of The Predators, but was kicked out and the mind control stopped, leaving her scrambling for help. Not too long before that, though, she had disowned Asche as a son, since Asche had disobeyed her. Asche's father, Cougar, was killed before even that.

Tigress's body hadn't been capable of conceiving a child, no matter how much she and Cougar wanted one. They had come to the conclusion to use her dark magic to create a child of their own. Tigress had formed Asche out of ashes, hoping it would help cleanse his soul. Because Asche thrives off of darkness, he has his own darkness magic and his skin is gray, his hair dark gray, and his eyes red. His eyes glow when he is feeling great emotion. Asche is technically a living shadow.

Tigress is the sister of King Diablo's father, making Diablo and Asche cousins. They were rather close at times, but ever since the one person Asche has truly loved other than his family, Iris Templeton, left him as he was about to confess his feelings, he'd been a little wary of everyone. Lately, his despair had changed to anger, and he had come to accept Elsa's pregnancy and even become excited for the arrival of his first first-cousin.

Everyone's heads whipped towards the door as the screeches came to an end. There was a minute or two of eerie silence before they began again. Anna and Kristoff exchanged a confused glance. Anna couldn't help but cringe at the ear-splitting sound and bury her face in Kristoff's chest. They were all sitting against the hallway wall outside of Elsa's room, and no one was able to sit very still. Even Kristoff was casting uneasy glances towards the door and tapping the fingers of one hand against the floor as Sven played with his other hand.

A short while later, the shrieks cut off again, this time not as abrupt. The whole kingdom began to thaw and everyone knew the reason. The heir had arrived.

Footsteps approached the door. It opened, and the proud father slipped out. Anna, Kristoff, Tigress, and Asche all had their eyes trained on Diablo, whose arms were holding something. No one could see since he was standing up, though. No one wanted to move.

Small cries came from what Diablo was holding, and his face was as bright as the sun. He gently kicked the door all the way open with his foot. "Come on inside," he whispered. Before he could say anything else, Anna was on her feet and running as tenderly as she could into the room. When she arrived, she turned to her left and saw Elsa in her bed, with… A baby? She turned around and saw Diablo holding the first one. She glanced between the two for a little while as the rest of the eager bunch joined her. For some reason, Anna could not make sense of it.

"Twins?" Asche was the first to softly ask, raising one dark eyebrow. Diablo let the group silently over to Elsa's bed.

"Twins!?" Anna repeated in a whisper-shout.

Elsa just grinned up at her little sister. "Twins," she confirmed with a smile. Her warm gaze returned to the child in her arms as Diablo crouched down next to the bed. "One boy and one girl," Elsa explained softly.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Anna exclaimed while still keeping her volume low. "I would have liked to know that I was to be an aunt to more than one," she sighed, a little irritated.

Elsa shot Diablo a nervous look, holding her child closer than she was before. The baby she was holding was crying, but the cries were softer than Diablo's. "We wanted it to be a surprise. It was my idea," Diablo elaborated, dipping his head a tiny bit in submission. "We figured that since neither of us was really prepared, we might amuse ourselves a little bit with your reactions," he continued. "I'm holding the boy and Elsa has the girl."

Anna gave up on getting them to explain; in a way she understood why they wouldn't tell her, and she crossed over to the other side of Elsa's bed. She grinned down at her niece. "Hey there, little girlie… You don't understand me, but I want you to know that you're going to have the best momma anyone could have, okay? Don't give up on her," she told the baby, making Elsa blush and give her younger sister a hard look.

Kristoff hoisted his son up so that Sven could see his cousin. Sven smiled real wide as Tigress headed towards Diablo, Asche hot on her trail. "What's the names?" Tigress asked softly, cautiously reaching over and stroking the few strands of light brown hair on her nephew's head. He just kept on wailing in response.

"I chose the name for the female," Diablo avoided. "And Elsa chose the name for the male. For the girl, I was inspired by little Sven to name her after someone who has been lost… By how much I hear Elsa and Anna occasionally talk about the former king and queen, I did some research and came up with a name. Our daughter is named Idunn."

Anna gasped softly, her hand coming up to cover her open mouth as she trained her eyes on Diablo. "I-Idunn? As in…" she trailed off, her eyes wide with bewilderment and anguish.

"Yes, Idunn, as in our mother…" Elsa cut in, still staring down at her daughter. "Anna, pay attention," she said, right before handing Idunn over to her younger sister. Anna was a little shocked, but held her niece carefully. "I wanted you to hold her," Elsa explained. "As for our son… I wanted to follow Diablo's example, but in a different way. One day, there will be a King Xavier, for our son is named Xavier. Or, Xavier Junior, if you prefer."

Diablo handed little Xavier over to Tigress, who cooed over him with Asche by her side, as he turned and watched Kristoff, Anna, and Sven gaze upon Idunn.

"It loud," Sven complained, earning a shushing sound from his mother. "Sorry," he mumbled. "But it is. Both of 'em is. I don't like 'em," he commented, crossing his arms and huffing adorably.

Anna tore her gaze away from her niece temporarily to shoot a hard look at her son. "Sven, don't be so judgmental. You know what your papa and I have been telling you about not judging a book by its cover," she chastised gently, the expression on her face clearly stating not to argue with her.

"Yes, mama…" Sven agreed guiltily. "I remember…" he added. He wanted to protest, but he knew better than to mess with his mother. Especially when it came to his Aunt Elsa. "I g'uss it is sorta cute…" he admitted, rather reluctantly.

"Of course she is. I bet she's going to grow up to be as beautiful as her mother. Don't you think, Sven?" Anna inquired with her teal colored eyes back on Idunn, who was slowly beginning to quiet down.

"Yeah, yeah!" Sven answered enthusiastically. "Both of them are goin' ta be the bestest cousins ever!"

* * *

The screen clearly showed the whole scene playing inside of the hospital room. The teenage girl sitting in the chair behind it smiled to herself. This was perfect. "Oh, Bane, I have a surprise for you," she called in a sing-song voice. Her blue eyes were filled with excitement as her brother walked over from where he was adjusting his mechanical left arm.

"What is it, Shade?" he asked, seemingly irritated. "You know I don't like it when you interrupt me. Has Queen Elsa's child been born yet?"

"Yes, yes they have. And yes, I said they. As in two! Our queen had twins!" Shade exclaimed happily. "This is perfect! Nothing can stop our plan now!" she was grinning like a fool. "Don't you think big brother?"

Bane's own dark blue eyes widened a little bit in surprise. "That's… Interesting. But yes, I guess two is always better than one," he agreed. He stared at the screen. Their technology was so far advanced that no one had even thought of such mechanics. No one would be able to create what they have in centuries. They were natural born geniuses.

Shade looked to her brother hopefully. "Like with us? Two of us are better than just one of us, right? I mean, if it were just you, then-"

"If it were just me, I probably would have developed this science a lot quicker," Bane interrupted, turning away and walking to the other end of the room where he took a disinfectant wipe and began to clean down the steel table in the middle of the room. "You're not as important to our cause as you think you are. Don't you dare even try to think that you're worth nearly as much as me in this case. Queen Elsa will pay for her sins, and I'm the one who will exact our payment, as I have done everything else. Is that understood?"

Shade flinched at her brother's words. "Y-yes. I understand. It's all you, I'm not important to our-I mean your revenge. But… Am I important on my own?" she asked, glancing over at him.

Bane finished disinfecting the table and returned to his sister. He placed his human hand on her cheek and smiled down at her. "Of course you are, Shade. You're my sister. Whether you do any work or not, we're still family. Family matters, and don't you forget it."

* * *

**Well, here is the first chapter of Caution until Warmth Due Apart, sequel to Melt the Ice Around her Heart. First off, I would like to apologize for the fact that I do not think Olaf will be in here very much at all; I can never find a way to fit him in properly... So, I figure I'll just leave him out. Sorry :\. Next, I'd like for you all to not hate-comment saying that such technology has not been invented yet. Bane and Shade are complete geniuses, and no they will not share their findings. I might change the rating later on, but for now I think K+ would be fine... o-o. I will be making a cover for this one later on, I promise. I'd also highly appreciate hearing more criticism, as I love to know what others think of my fanfiction :). I don't care if you use destructive criticism or constructive criticism. ****_Haters never bothered me anyway~..._**


	2. Chapter 2

The queen of Arendelle felt defeated. She had been trying so hard to prevent this, but she should have known that it was inevitable. The fates could not be twisted to her desires. She inhaled slowly, letting out her breath shakily. She was trembling a little bit as she reached down into her nine month old son's crib and gently brushed her fingers over his cheek.

"Oh, Xavier… I'm sorry…" she whispered to her child who was shivering violently, his small teeth chattering audibly. Elsa glanced over at her daughter. Idunn was in her own crib, which was next to her brother's, and so far showed no signs of magic. She was sleeping silently, her thumb in her mouth. Elsa smiled down at her light brown-haired daughter. She was lucky that Idunn was such a deep sleeper that Xavier wouldn't wake her up.

Elsa's gaze returned to her son. She had been expecting it soon, but she didn't want it to happen in the middle of the night. She had hoped that there would be daylight to cheer up her son when he woke with his world a whole lot colder.

"Elsa! What happened?" Diablo's whisper-shout reached into the queen as he rushed into their twins' room. He was out on a late-night walk since he couldn't sleep, but when he had heard that his wife needed him, he came as fast as he could.

Elsa looked at him with failure written in her eyes. The pain in her gaze was definitely emotional. "I knew it would happen sooner or later…" she told him, her voice hollow. She bent over, reaching her arms down to her son and wrapping him up in her embrace. She tried to chill her skin as much as she could. She feared that if she stopped it, something would go wrong. "To at least one of them…"

Diablo stared at his son and wife in confusion for a few seconds. Then, he saw a streak of his son's caramel-colored hair turn platinum blonde. His eyes widened slightly; now he understood what was happening, and why Elsa was so crushed by the news. "Oh, Elsa…" he whispered as he rushed over to her. He reached over to place his hand on her arm, but when he felt the cold of her skin through the sleeve of her nightgown, he pulled back. He understood what she was doing rather quickly, and remained unbothered. "This is okay. We can work with this. It's not like when you were young. We don't have to lock him up like your parents did you. This time, we know the answer. Love. And I am extremely certain that we have plenty of that," he smiled at her gently.

Elsa blinked at him once. And then again. "You don't want me to be worried about how our only son-and when I say only I mean it, I'm not going through this again-having horrid magic that he inherited from me, his own mother? You want me to act like it's not a curse in its own way?" she inquired, and then suddenly her face became devoid of emotion. "Fine. If that's what you wish."

Some would say that she looked scarily alike to how she was on the night of her coronation when she refused to give her blessing to Anna and Hans. "If you think it's so easy, then here." Before Diablo could apologize, Elsa handed Xavier Jr. to him and walked away, her heart breaking a little bit. She would never tell him, though.

"Holy cold!" Diablo gasped before shutting his mouth immediately and nervously glancing towards his daughter to make sure she was still asleep. She was. He breathed out a sigh of relief and started bouncing slightly; fretting that Xavier Jr.'s wailing would wake his sister. Idunn simply rolled over and faced the other way, thumb still being sucked.

Diablo stayed with his freezing cold son in his arms for about twenty more minutes. By then, Xavier Jr.'s hair was pure platinum blonde and his skin had begun to take on the cold-yet-warm quality that Elsa's skin had when she was not upset or purposely icing her flesh. Finally, the nine month old had stopped crying and was now sleeping soundlessly in his father's hold.

Diablo carefully set Xavier Jr. back down in his crib, tucking his son in tightly. He reached in and kissed his son's forehead once before straightening and exiting the nursery room. He made his way over to the room that he and Elsa shared and was just about to turn the knob when he noticed something. The whole door was frozen.

He sighed to himself as he snatched the blanket left lying on the floor and backtracked a little bit, sitting down against the wall on the other side of the hallway. This wasn't uncommon for Elsa to do. Whenever he would afflict her by accident, she would always make sure that he would not go unpunished. Her form of punishment was always the same. She would freeze the door to their bedroom so that he would have to sleep in the hallway that night. She would lock it, but the idea brought back too many troubling memories for her.

One time, Diablo had tried to weave around it and slept in a guest bedroom, but he had to pay for it in the morning. Elsa had discreetly stated that when he deserved it, he had to sleep out in the hall, avoiding the actual words. She always made sure that it wasn't too cold, though. And she always left a blanket outside of the door.

Diablo closed his eyes as he spread the blanket over him. This would be one long night, that's for sure.

* * *

"Xavier! You stop that right this instant! Idunn, no shoving snow down your brother's pants. I know that it doesn't bother him, but princesses do not act like that!"

Elsa was getting ready to pull her hair out at how rambunctious and mischievous her twins were. Diablo was away securing trade with another kingdom, leaving Elsa to take care of

the children on her own. Well, she wasn't completely alone most of the time, but right now she was. Anna was usually there, but at the time she was spending some bonding time with her own little family.

"We just pay'n'!" Idunn replied to her mother. She was trying to say 'We're just playing' but since her brother and she were only two at the time, their speech wasn't the best. "No one hurt," she complained. When Elsa shot her 'Don't mess with me' look, Idunn pouted out her bottom lip, crossed her arms, and stomped her foot with a very sassy humph!

Xavier watched his sister, pulling his pants up, and copied her exactly. If it weren't for the hair color and length, they looked exactly the same. Then again, there is nothing else to expect from near-identical twins. "Mama bean a neanie!" Xavier cried out. There was snow covering the whole ballroom floor, having been created by the young heir himself.

Elsa groaned and smacked her hand to her forehead. Why did she always have to be the bad guy when it came to her and Diablo as parents? Diablo would have said to let them have their fun, but just the thought of her two toddlers playing in snow set off warning bells in Elsa's head. It reminded her too much of the very first incident, so many years ago. "Look kids, I'm sorry. Mama just has a bad past when it comes to children playing in the snow… I've never really gotten over it, and that's my fault…" she apologized, guilt written on her face.

Xavier and Idunn exchanged a quick, panicked look, before their love for their mother won over and they ran over simultaneously, latching onto her legs. They didn't like to see Elsa upset. Even though she was stricter than their father, she was always the one to settle around the fireplace with them and read them a story as they fell asleep on her lap. "We no mean it!" Idunn exclaimed as she hugged her mother's pale right leg tightly.

"Yeah! Mama no neanie!" Xavier agreed with his sister, wrapping himself fully around Elsa's other leg.

Elsa couldn't help but smile down at them. "Sometimes, mama has to be a 'neanie'," she replied, using their language. Her smile faded a little bit as Idunn yawned and Xavier rubbed at his eyes. "You two are getting sleepy, aren't you?"

"Nuh uh!"

"No way!"

Elsa grinned at their immediate replies and how both of them opened their eyes wide as if to prove that they were awake. She bent down and picked them both up, one in each arm. They were getting sort of big for this, but she would push her physical capabilities to the limits for her children. "Don't lie to me," she chastised them softly as she carried them out of the

ballroom and into another room, this one with a fireplace. "It's getting late, you two have to get ready for bed anyway."

She carried her children over to a rocking chair next to the fireplace and set them down. "Okay, I'll go get your pajamas, I'll be right back," she told them, kissing their noses before exiting and heading towards the bedroom they shared. She gathered clean PJs and returned to see both of them on the verge of sleep. She hummed 'Let it Go' as she helped them into their nightclothes.

Xavier and Idunn both jumped off the char to let their mother sit on it, and then crawled up her legs onto her lap, snuggling up to her. "Mama?" Xavier asked, glancing up at Elsa.

Elsa smiled warmly down at her son. "What baby?" she asked gently, wrapping her arms around her twins lovingly.

"What that moosic?" Xavier inquired, referencing to the tune Elsa had been humming moments before. "Is it a song?"

"Can you sing it to us?" Idunn cut in, looking up at her mother with her own version of puppy dog eyes. Elsa nearly melted under her children's please.

Her grin was wide, even though inside she was panicking the slightest bit. "Of course I can, my darlings..." she trailed off. Her children would be the first people for her to directly sing Let it Go to, and some part of her was worrying what they'd think. Let it Go was the root of all of her good, enjoyable emotions and most of her best memories. Let it Go was the best thing she'd ever done for herself, apart from thawing the kingdom and becoming closer with Anna.

Elsa took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as her children settled on her lap. "It's called Let it Go," she notified them beforehand, not quite ready to start singing it yet. Neither of them commented. Finally, she began her song in a soft voice.

_"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight / Not a footprint to be seen... / A kingdom of isolation / And it looks like I'm the queen... / The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside / Couldn't keep it in / Heaven knows I tried... / Don't let them in / Don't let them see / Be the good girl you always have to be / Conceal, don't feel / Don't let them know... / Well, now they know / Let it go / Let it go / Can't hold it back anymore / Let it go / Let it go / Turn away and slam the door / I don't care / What they're going to say / Let the storm rage on / The cold never bothered me anyway..."_

Xavier snuggled even closer to his mother, pressing his face against her stomach as his sister stretched her arm out over to him. He took Idunn's hand and, whilst singing, Elsa placed one hand over theirs.

_"It's funny how some distance / Makes everything seem small / And the fears that once controlled me / Can't get to me at all / It's time to see what I can do / To test the limits and break through / No right, no wrong / No rules for me / I'm free... / Let it go / Let it go / I am one with the wind and sky / Let it go / Let it go / You'll never see me cry / Here I stand / And here I stay / Let the storm rage on..."_

Both of the twins were on the verge of sleep by now, lulled by the gentle, loving sound of Elsa's voice.

_"My power flurries through the air into the ground / My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around / And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast / I'm never going back, the past is in the past / Let it go / Let it go / And I'll rise like the break of dawn / Let it go / Let it go / That perfect girl is gone / Here I stand / In the light of day / Let the storm rage on / The cold never bothered me anyway..."_

The whole song, Elsa kept her voice relatively quiet and soothing. She glanced down to see that both of her toddlers were sleeping happily, as close to her as they could get. She considered carrying them to their room, but they were dosing so peacefully, it seemed like a crime. Instead, she simply kissed their foreheads and grabbed a book off of the table nearby, opening it and waiting to join her children in sleep.

* * *

**Eep, sorry this took so long! I'm trying to do better but I'm still on vacation, visiting family ;-;. Sorry if the twins' speech is kind of difficult to understand, they're only two o3o. Next chapter is when action is actually going to start, I just figured I'd give you all the family fluff at the end of this chapter since I'm not sure there will be an opportunity for much more later... I'd love it if people could review more, they usually motivate me to write more c:. It's not required, though... I feel like I'm forgetting something o-o. Oh, well... Eheh anyway, I'll try to get Chapter 3 in as soon as possible! :3**


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure we're ready for this? I mean, do you see how insane they make her sometimes? Are you ready to deal with that?"

Bane smiled at his little sister. She was obviously worrying for his plans. They had been plotting this for months, but today was the perfect day for it to happen. "Oh Shade, you can trust me and my judgment. If I say then everything will go well, then you have to trust me. When did you stop listening to your older brother?" he asked with a small grin.

Shade rolled her eyes, spinning in the chair aimlessly. "About the time that Elsa's eternal winter killed-"

"Enough!" Bane shouted, silencing his younger sister immediately. "Don't you dare EVER bring that up! I do not want to hear it!" he yelled, his fists clenched at his sides as he faced Shade, who had stopped swiveling to watch him with her jaw set.

Shade blinked once, and then again. "Our parents. I stopped trusting your judgment when Queen Elsa's eternal winter killed our parents," she finished rebelliously. "You haven't been the same since then. You only want revenge," she continued.

Bane's face was red with anger as he stormed over to Shade and smacked her cheek hard with his mechanical hand. "She deserves what's coming to her! And you are not allowed to disobey me. Ever! I am superior, I am older, and when I say not to do something, you don't do it! Got that?" he screamed at her, punctuating each sentence with another painful slap.

The red mark left on Shade's cheek was huge and deep. "Yes, yes! I got it! I understand! I'm sorry!" she screeched, tears flowing out of her eyes. Her brother stopped and turned, walking away. Shade continued to sob silently, holding her cheek that had been hit so much and so hard that it was bleeding. She glared after Bane through her tears.

Bane's heart ached with regret at how he had attacked his younger sister, whom he did love very much, but he had drawn the line and she had crossed way too far over it. He had simply been punishing her. She knew that their parents' deaths was a really sensitive topic for him, but yet she still pushed it too far sometimes. "I'm sorry Shade, I really am. You're right. Their deaths did change me. They showed me reality."

With that, he left the lab and his sniffling younger sister behind. Shade knew of Bane's tiny temper and anger issues and had had them shown to her several times when they were younger. She just hadn't expected him to burst like that. Sure, the deaths of their parents were heart wrenching and tragic, but why couldn't Bane just, as Elsa liked to say so much, _let it go?_

Shade sighed and stood up, hand still on her cheek. Her crying had ceased, even though the pain was still great. Bane was her only brother, and she had to live with him and all of his flaws, simple as that.

She didn't bother grabbing an ice pack; she had work to do. She had to keep up with her brother. Plus, an ice pack would remind her too much of what her brother's mission was that night. She slipped on her white lab coat and walked into an identical-looking room, only instead of only technology, it had machinery and tables holding flasks with many strange, smoking liquids in them.

Shade slipped on thin plastic gloves and made her way wordlessly over to the largest table in the middle of the room. She took the top of the sheet down to reveal the face of the being lying underneath and smiled to herself. If that brat Iris Templeton ever decided to try and help out the queen again, she wouldn't be able to handle this.

Tubes that were located on a table next to the bed-like experimentation stand were quickly swept up by Shade. She inserted them in their correct spots in the person who was currently dead. She grabbed an eye dropper and squished a tiny amount of a deep blue liquid that was bubbling into it. She lifted one of the being's eyelids, revealing a brown eye the shade of melted chocolate swirling deliciously in a container.

Easily, Shade squeezed one drop into the eye. It sizzled and dissolved. She did the same for the other eye and waited approximately twenty long, boring minutes. Then, she switched a few levers on her machines and the body began to shake rather violently. Shade watched with triumph as it did exactly what she wanted it to. She was always the chemist of the family. Bane was the one who provided the equipment needed for this marvel.

Suddenly, the body stopped and lay still once more. The eyelids flew open and the pupils inside of the brown irises dilated, and then shrank. The mouth slowly opened and the girl took in a deep breath, the first time she'd breathed in years.

Shade smiled down at her. "Welcome back, Erika. It is so nice to finally meet you. I've read so much about you…"

* * *

Bane pulled on his gloves; he would need them. No matter how much he wanted to focus his attention on his mission, his mind kept wandering to Shade and what she had said. She had been right about one thing. He had changed. But in his opinion, he changed for the better. Who was Shade to tell him that he was letting revenge get in the way?

Revenge was justice to him. It brought peace and righteousness to the world. Plus, he and Shade were, as they liked to call themselves, The Vigilantes. They sought justice, and if doing what's right for them meant taking down the queen, so be it. That is what they would have to do.

He still felt the smallest pang of guilt though as what he would have to do tonight. He knew that family mattered more than anything, yet he was still to complete this task. He would not let his side of the revenge droop. He heard machines whizzing as they came to life from Shade's lab and knew that she was completing her side. It had been her idea to bring back to life the troublemaking sister of Iris, knowing that if Iris ever interfered again, Erika could hold her back as well as be a good bodyguard for them.

The girl had killed seventeen people on her own as well as committing eight robberies, setting fire to twenty one Arendelle ships, and causing around five avalanches on Arendelle land. Bane had to give it to Shade; that idea was genius.

She had suggested it a few days after the twins were born and just yesterday Shade had finally perfected the potions. It was okay though; they had plenty of time. Out of caution, both of them agreed to wait a day so that the liquids could settle and not explode once they entered Erika's body and worked their science.

Bane turned to see Shade walking towards him, her hand around the wrist of Erika, who had a small half-smile on her face. From the tiny shots he'd seen of Iris when she was at the queen's wedding, since that was the first time that they started monitoring the queen, he could tell that Erika was Iris's twin. They looked exactly alike, except at the moment Erika was a little bit dirtier. But hey, the girl just came back from life, what do you expect?

"Ah, welcome Erika," he greeted her warmly. "I've been waiting years to meet you. You do not know how glad I am that you are alive again. My name is Bane, the pleasure's all yours," he told her, giving a nod of his head instead of shaking her hand and getting his gloves dirty.

Erika's smile grew, but it was still lopsided in a casual way. "If you say so," she replied with a breathy laugh. Her voice was still a little raspy from being dead and all, but Shade had had her speak in the other room so that her voice would be presentable. "Shade explained your mission to me. I'm in. I can never deny the opportunity to wreak havoc among the kingdom. And if I want something, I get it. Simple as that."

Satisfaction crossed onto Bane's face. "Perfect. That's just what we need you for. I can't wait to see the look on your sister's face if she comes. She'll melt faster than chocolate in a desert!" He joked lightly.

Erika's face went pale at the mention of her sister. "Iris…? Y-you're not going to make me hurt her… Are you? I can't hurt her… I would never… I mean, she's my sister…" she cried out softly, trying to keep her tears back. She hadn't seen Iris in so long.

Bane and Shade exchanged a quick glance before Shade spoke up. "No, you don't have to hurt her," she reassured the upset Erika. "You just have to distract her when she comes. I promise we won't let her get hurt if you don't want her to get hurt. All that matters is that you keep her out of the way. Okay?"

An easy smile soon appeared on Erika's lips once again. "Good. I would rather she not get injured or pained. I mean, after all, she is my sister. And Bane, good luck on your 'quest' tonight. Shade told me all about it," she winked at the 22-year-old.

"Oh don't worry, you're coming with me," Bane replied with a cocky grin.

This surprised Erika. "I am? I mean… I am?" she asked, shocked. Bane nodded, seemingly amused. "But I can't… I don't like children," she elaborated.

"Oh well."

* * *

Iris stared across the lake at the deer on the other side. Unfortunately it was not a reindeer. That would have been ironic, though. Her heart ached; it always ached. She missed Asche. Since she had left, she had cut her hair shorter so that it barely reached her shoulders, and she had found no real friends except for herself.

Her hair had been chopped off every year so that it was this length. It was the slightest bit uneven since she would cut it herself using a knife, but she did it only to distract herself. Iris watched as a wolf jumped out of the undergrowth and sank its fangs into the deer's neck. It reminded her of what Asche did to her heart. A lot of times she would sit all alone like this and just think. At night, she would sleep with the trolls. She had taken a liking to them, and their glowing necklaces were comforting to her.

But during the day, she didn't belong with them. She kept her eyes trained on the wolf that was chewing on the deer carcass. It was almost done now, and the corpse was really bloody.

Iris glanced down and saw her own shadow. "Hello," she said to it, as habit she had developed. "It's me again. Yes, I'm thinking of him. I know, I shouldn't be, but I can't help it," she sighed. "I keep trying to tell myself that I had good reasons for leaving him. I did. But I can't stand being without him…"

Of course, her shadow didn't reply. It wasn't like Asche. "I mean, look at me. I'm almost twenty-four now, and he's still eighteen. I'm going to grow old, and he'll always be the same age. It would never work," she continued, and then hesitated. "Plus, I heard about Queen Elsa's twins and… Well, I don't know. Can you keep a secret?" she asked.

It was sort of silly that she would ask her shadow that, but the loneliness was getting to her. "I think that one day in the near future, I might want children of my own… I know I've never really been a fan of kids, but with the queen and princess starting their own mini families… I don't know," she repeated. "Maybe it's just my hormones, but I want at least one child sometime before I die, and I don't think Asche can provide that. After all, he is a shadow," she rambled slightly.

Iris then sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I don't know," she stated for the third time. "Love can make people do some crazy things… And I'm afraid I've succumbed to it more than I ever hoped I would…"

* * *

**Oh gosh, I actually did it. A chapter without Elsa, Anna, the twins, Diablo, Kristoff, Or Asche... Sorry about that, this was a challenge for myself o-o. Today was the first day of school for me *sigh* and I'm going to hope to get into a writing schedule that works for me c:. My chapters will probably come more often, my time divided between school/homework, my little sister, and fanfiction. I discovered that I have more motivation when I'm busy, so it's good that my school started to early cx. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter; I uncovered quite a bit in it...**


	4. Chapter 4

Elsa blinked down at the empty cribs, not yet processing that her twins were gone. Diablo was standing next to her with his arm supportively in hers and a few tears sliding down his face. No one wanted to speak. No one knew what to say.

Anna was on the other side of Elsa, having come to help Elsa out with the twins. It seemed as if that was no longer needed. She reached down and held her six year-old son, Sven, closer to her, trying to hold back tears and be strong for Elsa. Elsa was always strong for her whenever she needed it.

Anna leaned her head against Elsa's shoulder in a comforting way, since Elsa was too tall to lean her head on Anna's shoulder. "I just don't understand it…" Elsa whispered, her cheeks still dry as she struggled to contemplate the reasons. "Why are they always after me? What did I do wrong this time? That seems to be the repetitive question in my life. What have I done? What did I do? What did I cause to happen? Who did I hurt this time? It never ends. I never know what I did… It's all involuntary mistakes…" she continued softly, bewildered at the absence of her twins.

The stricken queen walked over and gently sat down on a chair. Both Diablo and Anna followed after her. "Elsa, you didn't do anything. All you did was tried to settle down and have a family of your own. That is nothing bad whatsoever," Anna pointed out to her older sister earnestly.

"Maybe that's what I did wrong," Elsa said with a small amount of awe in her voice. "Maybe I'm not supposed to have a family. It was all a mistake. Maybe I wasn't even supposed to be born. I was born on the coldest day Arendelle has ever seen; I should not have survived that. I should have been stillborn. I guess it was just a mistake. Maybe… Maybe I'm the mistake," she wondered out loud. Her face was devoid of emotion, even though her voice was cracking every now and then.

"Elsa, no, you didn't do anything wrong," Diablo told her firmly.

"Yes, actually, she did."

All three of them jumped as the voice seemed to come out of nowhere. It was a male voice that none of them could place. Lighthearted laughter rang through the entire nursery room.

"Relax, dear Royals. I am not really here. Only my voice is. My name is Bane. Yes, I have your twins. I have your twins and I can do whatever I want with them. I can torture them all I like if I want to," it spoke.

This finally made Elsa gasp in pure terror and cling to Diablo.

A female voice cut in then. "Forgive him. My name is Shade. I am Bane's sister. I can assure you that no intentional harm will come to the children under my watch. I will personally only act kind to them. I am not too fond of tiny kids, but I understand that it's not easy when family is hurt or injured. I can promise you that I believe not in the torturing of children. Bane, on the other hand… I will hold him back as much as I can, but just warning you, he has anger-"

She was cut off by a loud smack emanating throughout the whole room. By the slightly fuzzy quality of it and the distinct female cry of pain following, it was obvious to everyone that Shade was the one attacked. Bane took control again.

"Ignore my sister. She still has not learned her place. Your Majesty," he practically sneered. "You have, in fact, done something wrong. Your eternal winter, so long ago, was not without cost. The princess was not the only one who died, even if she did come back to life. You see, the mother and father of Shade and I were in a cave when a huge blizzard started, when you broke out. It seemed as if an avalanche was caused. I was about ten then, and Shade was eight. That was twelve years ago. We finally have materials and plans to exact our revenge. Our technology is so advanced that it would take hundreds of years for the normal human to develop it."

Elsa stared up at the ceiling. Throughout the speech, her gaze had hardened, surprisingly. Now she stood with her arms crossed. "Why don't you just capture me then? Or just kill me? Why must you take my family into it?" she asked, obviously annoyed.

A lighthearted chuckle echoed inside the nursery. "What's the fun in that?" Bane said, amused, and then there was a pause. "No, I'm not going to hurt them as of now. I might later though. I will sit back and watch you suffer miserably as you're stuck trying to find your family, never knowing what happened to them. Exactly how Shade and I were during your blizzard. I don't doubt that you'll try to discover where we are. We've been preparing though. Remember Elsa, the riddle that was given to you so long ago. Melt the Ice Around her Heart / Caution until Warmth Due Apart."

* * *

"Seriously Bane? You slapped her?"

After Bane turned off the mic, he faced Erika, who looked pretty upset. After the hit, Erika had escorted Shade out of the room to get an ice pack, and now she was back and irritated. "What was I supposed to do? She was getting on my last nerve," Bane shrugged. "She knows that I don't mean it."

Erika raised one blonde eyebrow. "It still isn't nice. Iris and I never hurt each other unless it was an honest accident. I can't believe you'd do that to your own sister…" Erika shook her head slowly, disappointment on her face.

Bane's eyes and voice grew cold then. "It's not like she's your sister. The relationship you and Iris once had is nothing like my relationship with Shade, so why don't you scurry off to see if the twins have woken up from the sleeping medicine I inserted them with," he told her dismissively.

Erika opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it and turned on her heel, speed-walking out of the laboratory and towards the previous kitchen that was replaced with the new one and transformed into the room in which the prince and princess stayed. Before she even reached it, she knew that at least one of them was awake by the excessive calling for his/her mother. She couldn't distinguish the gender yet, though. She entered the room quietly and began tending to the children.

* * *

"We can't go after them. Not yet."

Surprisingly, Elsa was the one holding everyone back. Anna and Diablo looked back at Elsa, whose head was drooping so much that they couldn't see her face. Her hands were clenched into extremely tight fists at her side and she was trembling, as if she was getting ready to explode.

"Think about it. We don't know where they are, or how to get there, and I don't want to waste time heading in the wrong direction. These are my children and I don't want to risk their safety. I'm tired of running blindly into things. I don't want to lose anyone." Elsa's voice was shaking just as much as she was, but for some reason both Anna and Diablo could tell that it was only partly from despair and loss.

It had been a full ten minutes since the voice went away, and everyone's tears had vanished for the moment, even Elsa's. "Elsa? Are you okay?" Anna asked. Elsa would usually be more willing to give anything to save those she loved, so this was unusual for her.

"Well, my children were kidnapped and I learned that I took the parents of two orphans who are grown now but you know who needed parents anyway? I'm fine. Perfectly fine," Elsa nearly snarled. Finally her tense body relaxed and she lifted her face, which was purely blank and devoid of emotion. Her hands splayed out and then clenched once more before hanging limp. "I just cannot believe that after all we've been through, I'm not allowed to do anything. It's almost as if happiness isn't meant for me. But you know what? No matter what I did, I will hunt them down. I will bring back our children. I will keep trying and I will go to the ends of the earth and time to keep us all together, because we are a family and that is what family does. I am more than willing to give my life for you all, know that. But we can't always run into every situation blindly like we've done before."

And with that, Elsa exited the room, leaving Anna and Diablo speechless. They exchanged a shocked look, and then they both stared after Elsa again, as if she would materialize back in front of them.

Anna was the first one to speak. "Dang, if I were those two I'd watched out; Elsa looks like she's ready to freeze their bottoms off!" she exclaimed, Diablo nodding in slow reply.

* * *

Iris trekked through the crisp autumn morning, weaving her way around trees and crunching through leaves. She didn't care if a wild animal found her; it just meant she would eat better in the next few days. She had gotten rather skinny to where her ribs would show through her skin, but she was not too thin and was not on the brink of starvation.

Before Erika and she had come to Arendelle, they had lived in these very woods, resulting in Iris knowing quite a bit about how to survive in them. She knew how to build fires, how to find shelters, and even where the most plentiful fruit trees were. It was in her nature to live in this forest.

Iris heard a twig snap behind her and whipped around faster than a snake, her small dagger withdrawn as her eyes rested on the being.

A girl stood with wide eyes, holding her hand up in surrender. She was small and had mousy brown hair that cut off sharply at her chin and looked beautiful against her mossy green eyes. Even though she looked shocked and a little scared, she was adorable in a dorky-cute kind of way. Still, she couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen.

Iris relaxed a tiny bit but didn't drop her weapon. "Who are you and why have you been following me?" Iris demanded. The girl had a simple gray dress on which at some point may have been other colors but was covered with dirt and ash. There was something on her face, and mentally Iris debated on whether it was dirt or freckles. The girl had no shoes on and her bare feet looked sore and worn down.

Iris's eyes switched from the girl's frightened face down to her stomach, which was curved slightly. No, she couldn't have been eating much. That much could be told by how skinny the girl's arms and legs were.

"Fawn? What have you…" The voice trailed off as the boy, who looked just a tad older than the girl, Fawn, stepped out from behind a bush. His gaze hardened at Iris's dagger, poised and ready to strike, and he defensively stepped in front of his pregnant girlfriend, who had begun to tremble slightly. "Whoever you are," he began his voice warning. "You stay away from her. She did nothing wrong. No matter what you are after her for, blame me."

It took a minute for Iris to understand what he was saying. She finally remembered how she had the black shirt from The Predators on, with the hood and mask up. Usually she despised the outfits, but this one had been Asche's, hence why it was a little big on her. He had given it to her just a year before she had left, and she already ached for him. She liked to have the mask and hood up because somehow, it still smelled like him. Asche didn't have a particular scent, but she could just recognize it.

"Well, this is awkward…" Iris gave a small nervous laugh, not moving a muscle. "Explain yourselves to me and I will do the same."

Fawn pushed past her boyfriend, whose blue eyes easily portrayed concern. "I'm Fawn," she introduced herself, even though she still looked a little scared. "I, uh, I just saw you and I was curious… This is Axel. My mother, she married the king of Denmark. So, I became a temporary princess, I guess. But then she disappeared and, well, my step father banished me. I don't know why," she gave a small shrug, her gaze on the ground. "Axel came with me."

Iris looked from Fawn to Axel, then back to Fawn. It seemed that she was telling the truth. "Name's Iris," is all she said to them.

"Could you put down your knife?"

Fawn's request caught Iris off guard. She shot them suspicious looks as she tucked her dagger into her belt, keeping her hand on the handle just in case. Axel seemed annoyed, though. "We tell you our backstory, yet all you tell us is your name?" he spat at her, running a hand through his short blonde hair.

A defensive look crossed into Iris's eyes. "That's all that matters. Listen, I've been doing really well at ignoring the past, so I'd like it if you could just not push it right now. If you do, I hate to say it but I might just have to kill you, which would not be fun for either of us."

* * *

**I don't think anyone really cares about this fanfiction anymore. I'm back where I started, writing purely for my own entertainment. I only got one review last time, and that's really sad for me. So, I think I'm just going to stop writing down here. It's not like anyone really cares about it anymore. Peace out ~Crona4.**


	5. Chapter 5

The pregnant sixteen year-old with the freckled cheeks and dimples and the overprotective boy with the bronze spiked-up hair and blue eyes. Iris was genuinely amused; they were a good match. She had tried to ignore Fawn's pregnancy, as it only made her feel miserable and ache for Asche, but she failed dramatically, the pregnancy only distracting her more.

Either way, she showed indifference towards the duo. Since night was falling, they had decided to camp out together for the sake of survival, even though Iris really didn't want to. It had been Fawn's idea, and when Iris had tried to politely deny, the girl's eager, pleading face changed her mind.

Now Iris was scraping her knife against a tree, sharpening it the best way she knew how. She lifted her eyes and stared at Fawn as the girl sat down right next to her. Iris just stared at her as Fawn gave her a sweet smile. Iris refused to smile in return, but at least she took the scowl off of her face.

A few awkward seconds of silence passed before Fawn finally spoke up. "I see how you look at me. I know it doesn't have to actually do with me," she told her, her green gaze on the ground. "There's a guy isn't there?"

Iris sucked in a sharp breath, looking at the ground with hard eyes. "There _was_ a guy," she breathed out through her teeth. "Not anymore." Iris began to shake her head slowly, thinking of Asche.

Fawn looked over at Iris with sympathy in her gaze. "Are you sure it's over? Maybe something could be arranged and it could be fixed," she suggested cheerily, twiddling her fingers a little bit as Iris shook her head again.

"No," Iris responded with a sigh. "No, it's over for sure."

"Well, how do you know?"

"Because I ended it."

Now Fawn widened her eyes at the older girl. She seemed so upset about this guy that Fawn would have never expected that _she_ was the one to end it… "B-but… Why? You seem really sad about him… Why would you have ended that?"

Iris glanced at Fawn with pain flashing over her eyes. "I… I…" she trailed off, struggling for words. Her gaze drifted over Axel, who was picking at the fire, for a few moments before returning to Fawn. "You wouldn't understand…" she said softly, now looking at the ground and clenching her hands into fists. "It's my problem… I-I don't want to talk about it…" she finally looked back up at Fawn. This time, her eyes were pleading for the girl to comprehend that it hurt to even think of him.

The last time that Iris had felt so vulnerable and weak was when she had left Asche, somewhere between four and five years ago. The pain had been excruciating in her heart, but she knew that she couldn't stay there any longer knowing that Asche was immortal. She never wanted to get involved with the bunch anyway. Guilt was the only thing that pinned her down and forced her to do things she didn't want to do.

She couldn't help but wonder where Asche was at the moment. _Probably somewhere where he wouldn't have to worry about me anymore…_

* * *

Asche couldn't stop worrying about Iris. It had been almost five years since she had left and he still could not get her out of his mind. He aimlessly wandered the halls, staring at the decorated walls as he went. He had gotten over his despair, and he had gotten over his anger. Now all he felt was longing. It was no doubt that he loved her; even he couldn't deny that.

He had accepted it many years ago, but never knew what to do about it. He just wished that he had realized it sooner, before she had left. He wished he could tell her how much he loved her, but now whenever he imagined their first encounter in so long, if they even had one, all he could think of was how awkward it would be.

What would he say, anyway? 'Hey Iris, you left me years ago but that's okay. I forgive you and I love you so much and oh my you have changed!' Asche gave a small, rough laugh. _No. That would just sound awful!_

At least he had the guts to admit that he really wouldn't know what to say. Despite how he always claimed that he knew everything, he really didn't. He only said that to make himself feel better about being so different from everyone else. He was a shadow, for crying out loud! He stood out like an alligator in a church among his closest loved ones.

Asche had heard about the twins and currently he wasn't feeling like only the twins would be taken. Maybe it was a sign or something but he was getting this weird premonition about the future that he couldn't quite comprehend.

It just felt like something would happen and he should be cautious for when it does happen. Asche stopped as the door to the right of him opened. He looked at it curiously and watched Kristoff step out, followed by little Sven, who was now six. Asche sent a Kristoff a kind, greeting smile. "Hello, Kristoff," he said to the burly ice harvester.

Kristoff picked up Sven and gave a small nod to Asche. "Hello, Asche," he returned. "I, uh, I was about to tell Sven about the…you know… Twins. Maybe you could help me out…? You were always better with words…"

Asche was taken aback by his request. Kristoff seemed so solid that sometimes people forgot that he couldn't do everything. Asche nodded and, with a small smile, kneeled down so he was at Sven's eye level. "Sven," he began. "Your cousins, umm… You're not going to see them for a little bit… Someone took them and we're going to try to bring them back," he continued.

Sven simply smacked Asche and ran away with tears in his eyes. Kristoff gave a small laugh as Asche stood back up, rubbing his cheek. "In his standards, he took it pretty well. I bet he's off to find his mother," he sighed. "So, what do you think about Elsa's determination to wait until we have more answers before chasing these guys down?"

Asche hesitated before opening his mouth and answering. "I think I'm glad that she's finally using her common sense. She tends to run into things blindly at times when it involves her family, and it usually costs her, both physically and mentally. It's good that she's actually holding herself back this time until she has answers. That's the smart thing to do," he tapped his head.

Kristoff nodded in return. The two started to walk down the hall side-by-side. "And what do you think about Iris?" he asked. Asche stopped, tensing up, still staring ahead with his jaw set. Kristoff backtracked a little bit. "Sorry, that's inconsiderate… I mean, where do you think she is at this time? And why do you think she left? Sorry if it's still a sensitive topic, but I figure you'd be willing to talk about it after nearly five y-"

"By now I imagine she's somewhere with another guy, one who can actually give her what she wants," he interrupted in a quip-like manner as he began to walk again, this time faster so that Kristoff couldn't catch up by normally walking even if he wanted to. "What's your point?"

Kristoff was completely shocked by Asche's words. "I-I…was just…I was just…you know…wondering…" he stuttered miserably. "I'm just g-going to…you know…check on Anna and Sven…"

And with that, Kristoff fled the scene.

* * *

Bane was fed up. The children's crib was moved into the main room, the technology lab, so that they'd be able to keep a closer eye on them, and the female twin, Idunn, was getting on his last nerve with all of her sass.

"Well maybe if you made it cozy we be quieter," she remarked, grinning at him mischievously. She was in her crib while Xavier, the boy, was sitting on Erika's lap, refusing to be in the crib. Erika was bouncing him lightly the way that their mother used to say she did to Iris and Erika before their mother died.

Shade was gently shaking a flask that was closed tightly, an already, naturally deceased bunny strapped down on the table in the other room. "Careful Bane…" she breathed out, being careful so that she was not loud enough for her older brother to hear.

That was it. Bane had snapped. "Shut up you little smart aleck!" he yelled at the toddler, but Idunn just stuck her little tongue out. Bane's face grew red with rage and irritation. "Shade," his voice was quiet but trembling with anger. "Bring me Potion 14792503," he commanded through gritted teeth. "And a syringe as well."

Shade's eyes widened a little bit. "But Bane…" she began, her voice layered thickly with distress and confusion. "I haven't tested that yet. I don't know if it will work, or if there will be any added altercations, and-"

"Bring them to me now!" Bane's shout made Shade wince and close her mouth. She stood up and silently started towards the door to her lab. She paused next to Erika. "Might want to keep him still…" she commented, referring to Xavier, before entering her beautiful laboratory. The steady buzz of machines was comforting to her.

Shade couldn't understand why Bane was so insistent on using this potion that she hadn't made sure was safe. She set the flask from earlier on a counter and wordlessly walked to a cabinet, reaching on her tiptoes to open it. Her fingers shuffled past the tubes, not quite touching them. "19472056, 40283741, 80045892…" she softly breathed out their numbers. Finally, she came to the tube labeled _Potion 14792503 – Untested._

She gently removed it from the cabinet and closed it, opening a drawer right below it and retrieving a syringe. It took her another minute to exit, her jaw tight and teeth grinding, and hand both items to Bane. Bane accepted them without comment and carried the objects over to Idunn, who was staring at the syringe curiously.

Bane filled the syringe with a sigh. Everyone was staring at Bane and Idunn. It was so quiet that crickets could be heard chirping merrily in even the darkest corners. Then the silence seemed to erupt as the syringe skillfully entered Idunn's arm and the little three year-old began to scream bloody murder.

Bane was unfazed and emptied the liquid into Idunn's arm. Xavier buried his head in Erika's chest and sobbed. She reminded him of his mother. He didn't know what was happening; he only knew that his sister was in pain and he couldn't help her. He wished that he could but somehow he knew that even his ice couldn't stop it. Still, the walls began to frost as he cried.

Shade covered her ears with a flinch, sending Erika a sympathetic glance as the girl was too busy covering Xavier's ears to cover her own. Around ten seconds later, Idunn's screeches cut off suddenly, even though her mouth was still wide open with hot tears rolling down her chubby toddler cheeks. The little girl grasped her throat, still trying to scream, but failing.

Erika shot Shade a panicked and very upset look. "What did he do!?" she gasped in horror.

Shade closed her eyes, her hands coming together right in front of her, and leaned her head back against the wall. When she had created that potion, she had never wanted it to be used on a child. That was not her intention. She had created it for a simple act of defense. She shook her head slowly, an agonized look on her face as she closed her eyes. "Her voice. It's gone," she whispered, her voice soft but still loud enough to ring throughout the entire room.

* * *

**Umm... Perhaps I worded that incorrectly... What I said in Chapter Four did not mean that I would ened the story... It meant that I would end these little Author Notes xD. Which I decided agianst for the most part... I decided that instead I will only write them when necessary, like here, and when I want suggestions, again like now. Does anyone have any side-effects for Idunn to develop other than the loss of her voice? If so, please review :).**


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello Elsa._

The voice jolted Elsa out of her thoughts despite how the voice was in her thoughts. She looked around herself, wondering if she'd just imagined it as she was the only one in her room. She shrugged it off and returned to thinking about her twins. She was trying to figure out how to figure out where Bane and Shade were, but she was coming up with nothing.

She had never been so serious about something. She had expected herself to be a mess, and to be bawling hysterically every ten seconds, but then she had realized that she just wasn't that emotional anymore. Or, maybe, it had nothing to do with being emotional. Maybe it had to do with distractions and sickness. Maybe it had to do with who was with her. Maybe it just had to do with her being provoked.

Either way, currently she was feeling nothing but pure anger and hatred for Bane and Shade. She could not stand not going after them, but she didn't want to risk delaying them so much with impulsive decisions that something bad happened to the twins.

Honestly, she had never felt so furious in her whole entire life. Not at herself, not at her parents, not at anyone. For some reason, though, she maintained her composure all the time.

_It is so nice to meet you._

Elsa jumped out of her chair. Now she was certain that she was hearing things. Maybe she was just going crazy, and that's why she could hear the voice of someone who was not there. She glanced around even more before the voice continued. _Forgive me, I have been vague. Elsa, you can stop looking around for me. I'm in your head._

Elsa was startled at this. "How do you know my name?" she asked out loud.

A warm, caring laugh emanated in her mind. _I have been watching you for quite a while now. I don't intrude when it's private or special, though. I only watch you with your children, and with Xavier._ The voice finally stopped to let her speak.

"Xavier? But the only people that call him that are…" Elsa trailed off as realization hit her. This time, when the voice spoke again, she could hear the smile in it. _Yes, I am Arthur, Xavier's father. I have come to you because of dear Xavier, or I should probably call him Diablo for your sake. You and he are connected in more ways than you think, so even though I left his thoughts, I decided to switch over and help you one last time._

Elsa scoffed at this. "Why would I need help? I can totally save them without your help. Plus, I have Diablo," she pointed out. _No, actually, you don't. He was kidnapped, as well as Asche, Tigress, Kristoff, and Sven._ This shocked Elsa. "They're… They're gone…?"

_Yes. I am sorry, but they are gone. You are left with your sister and I. Now, before you try to do anything impulsive that you would regret later, I would like to inform you that they are not being hurt. They are going to be in their own personal cells in the place Bane and Shade live. I will help you get there, but know that I do not know where they are. That is for you to find out on your own._

Elsa was on the verge of panic, but the soothing yet stern sound of Arthur's voice was helping her keep it together, surprisingly. That's when a scream resonated into her room, coming from the room next door to hers. Anna came running in, tears streaming down her face. "Anna!" Elsa gasped as her younger sister flung herself into Elsa's arms. Elsa held Anna close and slowly moved her younger sister over to Elsa's bed for them both to sit on.

Anna was sobbing hysterically with snot bubbles coming out of her nose and all. "Elsa, they're gone!" she choked out, her voice thick with tears.

Elsa closed her eyes as one single, perfect tear escaped her right eye and rolled down her cheek. "I know, Anna… I know… Diablo, Sven, Kristoff, Asche, and Tigress were all taken…" she whispered softly, stroking her younger sister's hair soothingly.

When the queen and princess were younger, they would have never imagined themselves in a situation like this, with them both being mothers and having their children and husbands stolen from them. They had never imagined that they'd both be mothers in the first place. Especially since when Elsa was younger, she would retch and dry heave at the thought of having children.

Little Elsa had loved Anna, of course, but she had never dreamed of being a mother. The idea had just been repulsive to her. But now here she was, many years later, a mother and grieving for her stolen children as she tried to think of where they could possibly be while also contemplating about the voice of her husband's deceased father and how it suddenly showed up, telling her that everything she had left was taken.

The craziness of it all made laughter bubble up in her and she had to try her very hardest not to let it out. It would just be way too inappropriate for the moment. Anna glanced up at Elsa, her eyes still shedding tears. "H-how do you know…?" she stuttered slightly.

Elsa retracted one arm from around Anna and gently tapped her head. "This may seem strange, and I'm still trying to process it, but you know how the voice of Diablo's father used to speak to him?" Anna nodded. "Well, apparently Diablo and I are somehow really connected and now his father's voice is in my head… He told me, but I'm not freaking out because he could totally use that against me. Right now, I just want to find out where they are as soon as I can so I can take our family back."

"I can help!"

A whisper-shout was heard out of nowhere, and Elsa was almost convinced that this one was in her head again except for the fact that Anna heard it, too. No one recognized it, though.

"I, uh, I know you might not want my help because my brother and I kind of stole everyone…" The voice revealed who it was. Shade. And she sounded very uncomfortable. "But Bane… He's been unjust. He's still coming back with Erika and Diablo, Kristoff, Asche, Tigress, and Sven. Okay, let me explain. I'm a chemist. I work with potions and chemicals. I made this for a last minute defense, and it's a potion that takes one's voice away, and I hadn't tested it yet, and…and Bane used it on the little girl, even though I didn't want him to!" She burst out, sounding as if she had been crying.

Anna and Elsa exchanged a look, all tears gone for now. "Her voice… It's gone?" Anna whispered, as Elsa was too distraught and surprised to speak. Both of them had missed the part where Erika was mentioned.

"Yes." Shade's voice was soft and sad, and full of regret and guilt. "I-I'm super sorry… I never wanted her to get hurt… I tried to stop him, but it didn't work. You see, he also wanted to take Anna. I reasoned with him, because I wouldn't want to be separated from my sibling either. It's a horrible thing to happen, really. I wasn't expecting him to actually go ahead and listen to me, as he's made it very clear to me that he's superior, but I guess he was just tired of hearing me complain about it," she gave a forced laugh. "Now, Bane and I live in a patch of moor that is in the center of the forest. The Rolling Heather, if you know it. In the middle is a place called Exila, for unfortunate reasons. To find it, you have to-"she cut off abruptly. "Oh, snap! They're back! Find Iris Templeton, I have sources that tell me she knows where to go!"

The silence hung in the air after that for what seemed like centuries.

* * *

Iris was starting to feel a little annoyed that she was still with Axel and Fawn, but it was very apparent that they needed her help, and despite what she made others think, she wasn't that cold-hearted after all. Maybe a little frosty, as Anna would say in spite of Elsa's magic, but not really cold-hearted. Now she was in the woods again, looking for some fresh fruit. Axel and Fawn were trailing behind her, not knowing this part as well as she did.

For some reason, Iris was feeling like something bad was about to happen. She was feeling as if she would not be in peace for much longer, and she hated it. She just wanted to be left alone, but pure guilt was her weakness.

Iris had the hood and mask of Asche's Predator shirt up, as she always did. It had been many years, but she still wasn't over him. She wasn't sure she ever would be. She was terrified of what she felt for him, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

When she and Erika were younger and they were on their own, they would scoff at the idea of love. Neither of them ever wanted to love anyone other than each other. They had thought that boys were dumb and gross, which Iris still partly agrees with. Guys were definitely stupid at times. But then again, Asche wasn't a normal guy. He was a shadow, born from Iris's deepest, greatest fear.

"Here's an apple tree," she finally said, breaking through her own thoughts as she stopped in front of the tree. Axel gave a small, curt nod and handed Fawn his handmade spear before beginning to climb up the tree. "Be careful, that bark looks rough," Iris called up after him. All she got in reply was a grunt.

Iris sighed as Fawn giggled a little bit at her boyfriend's bluntness. Absentmindedly, Iris began to finger the scar over her left eye. It had healed enough that her eye was functional and she could see out of it, but the scar was still nasty and noticeable. She had received the cruel slash during the battle between the royal bunch and her against over one hundred Predator guards. She tended to finger it a lot when she was waiting for something or her hands simply had nothing to do.

Fawn was staring at Iris's scar, yet Iris didn't notice until Fawn spoke up. "What happened to your eye?" she asked curiously, a little bit of wariness in her voice.

Iris glanced over at Fawn. She smiled and gave a small, embarrassed chuckle, looking at the ground. "Dear girl, I'm afraid that that is a story that is meant for another time. I'm not exactly proud of my past, as I have caused more heartbreak than I care to admit. I had finally made up for my sins, but I'm afraid I ruined it again. My scar is a reminder of what happens when I try to contradict myself. It just doesn't work out," she replied, returning to gaze to Fawn, her sad smile still on her face.

Fawn was silent for a minute then. "Why didn't you try harder? I mean, since we met you've done nothing but be indifferent. Why would you want to be like that? Hostile and, when not, nonchalant? I don't mean to be rude, but maybe you could try to be polite sometimes."

Iris's grin grew a little bit. "Being indifferent is my polite. You can't expect anything more from me. I've tried love, and it just didn't take. Every time I find someone to love, I… Well, I find a way to jack it up. I always have, and I always will. I just don't think I'm meant for that type of stuff, you know? That's okay, though. To me, love is a trap. When you get caught in it, you can never get out of it no matter how hard you try and no matter how miserable it makes you. It's the deadliest thing in any world or realm. It's the universe's worst disease."


End file.
